Day: April 11, 2023

Rijo Presbot: The first half of 2023 is a time for observation, prudence, and control of the General State Budget.

For the first time in history, the submission of the Consolidated Budget for the first six months of 2023 is being considered. The Director General of the Budget, José Rijo Presbot, ruled out any modification to Law 366-22, the 2023 General State Budget, before July 1st, the date established by Law 423-06 for amending the legislation. He also stated that "this first semester is for observation, prudence, and continuing to restrict non-priority spending." In this regard, Rijo Presbot reiterated that the Budget is a law that establishes the maximum limit that authorities can spend; however, if revenues decrease, so do expenditures, because programming is based on revenues. He assured that the Government remains firm in its compliance with the Law and in exhausting each of the established processes for the rational and transparent management of State resources, and reiterated that no expenditure can be executed without the corresponding appropriation certification. “We have ensured that the transactional procurement portal, where tenders are uploaded, is read by the SIGEF system in such a way that when a project, good, or service is awarded, the money is already reserved in advance, preventing the generation of administrative debt,” added Rijo Presbot. He highlighted the elimination of administrative debt as a key achievement of this administration and contrasted the current situation with the practices of past governments. “In 2018, 2019, and 2020, we had to borrow over 150 billion pesos in administrative debt, representing 241% of the total debt incurred during those years. Last year, administrative debt only represented 11% of the total debt.” He also asserted that, despite the global economic crisis, the implementation of fuel subsidies since March of last year has mitigated the effects of inflation in the Dominican Republic. “If we hadn't invested RD$1,443,800 million in fuel subsidies, inflation would have been around 181% and ended up at 7.8%,” and pointed to the collapse of banks like Silicon Valley Bank as a clear indicator of a war economy. Regarding the Consolidated Budget, Rijo Presbot highlighted the work of the General Directorate of Budget, which for the third consecutive year delivered the Consolidated General State Budget for the current year to the National Congress before February 27th. He also announced that the Digepres team of economists is considering the possibility of, for the first time in history, delivering a Consolidated Report in July covering the first half of the year. Similarly, he reported that work is underway on creating a new Programmatic Structure for Local Governments that will allow for understanding the actions taken by municipalities, the resources they use, and the impact on people's quality of life. “People need to know how much is being invested in each town, because they only see investment from the perspective of physical infrastructure, but what about, for example, the cost to the country of the number of teachers, doctors, and public safety in a given area?” explained the Budget Director. José Rijo Presbot made these statements during an interview on the morning program “El Despertador,” which airs on Noticias SIN and is hosted by journalists Ana Mitila Lora, Esteban Delgado, and Diógenes Pina.